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As we bid adieu to 2010 and welcome 2011, perhaps it is appropriate to review the last decade and our last century, since most of us were born in the 20th century. It’s difficult to believe we are fully into the second decade of the 21st century.

Kenny G will take care of 1900-1999. We will have to fill in some remembrances from 2000-2010. As I listened for an appropriate Auld Lang Syne, I wondered if those who want to go back in time really want to relive the past 110 years and the turbulence.

The preceding century was none too easy either, with the American Civil War piercing the very soul of our nation. No one who lived here free or enslaved escaped the ravages of those times. More men were killed in the Civil War than in all our other wars combined. Yet we prepare to commemorate that war this summer, in 2011–the Sesquicentennial.

We have had an election crisis in 2000. We have suffered an attack on our homeland, 2 wars that still go on, and a financial crash that is only surpassed by the Great Depression in the last decade. Yet we are Americans and we have survived. Let’s look at some of the most significant accomplishments of the past 110 yearsm with emphasis on the past 10.

First question…should you chose to voice an opinion–what inventions or events most affected mankind in the past 110 years? What would the top 3 be?

Prince William Office of Housing and Community Development Director Elijah Johnson recently received the Sen. Charles J. Colgan Advocacy Award from the Independence Empowerment Center.

Colgan, a long-time Virginia senator, presented the award at the IEC open house on Tuesday.

Johnson received the award for his efforts in three areas: Obtaining 70 non-elderly, disabled housing vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for Prince William area residents; reducing the waiting list for Section 8 housing; and applying for monies from the “Money Following the Person Grant Program.”

Camillus, a former Republican Party officer in his home state in the Northeastern United States who was involved in campaigns at both the local, state, and federal levels during the 2010 elections.

Disclaimer: All guest posts are the opinion of the poster and do not necessarily represent the views of moonhowlings.net administration. M-H

“Restore the Constitution!” It’s a cry, in various iterations, that one commonly hears from the Tea Party. There have been “Restore the Constitution” rallies calling for “restoring the rule of law,” there are “Restore the Constitution” petitions circulating online, and there are “Restore the Constitution” blog sites. Politically, the Tea Party movement portrays itself as the defenders of the Constitution keeping faith with the original intent of the Founding Fathers.

This is ironic. A deeper examination of positions held by the Tea Party, particularly regarding the scope of the 10th Amendment, the repeal or modification of the 14th, 16th, and 17th Amendments, and the support for various nullification proposals, reflects a hostility to aspects of the Constitution as well as opposition to well-established principles in our Constitutional jurisprudence. In the end, the vision of our Constitution expressed by the Tea Party movement is often fundamentally at odds with that of many of our leading Founders, including Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Marshall, and Madison (prior to his 1791 break with Hamilton).

Newark Mayor Cory Booker is certainly the star of the giant east coast December snow storm. He is twittering all over the place and out there rescuing people in destress. He might even be wearing a superman cape. He has delivered diapers to a family who was out, helped shovel out cars,

Trapped in Newark after Blizzard 2010? Mayor Cory Booker wants to rescue you – and he’s only a tweet away.

Booker has been tweeting up a storm, personally responding to tweets from citizens stranded by snowed-over streets. For days, Newark’s hero mayor has helped dig out buried cars and snowy roads – and even delivered diapers to a stranded Newark family.

“Highland Ave b/w Bal and Berk not touched yet. My sis can’t get out to get diapers,” Timothy Hester frantically tweeted Booker. Hester lives in Virginia and tweeted the mayor on behalf of his snowbound sister Barbara, who lives in Newark.

The valiant mayor tweeted back, “I’m delivering the diapers now. We will get to her street soon.”

1 in 3 adults admit to have been bullied by a boss. According to USA Today:

One in three adults has experienced workplace bullying, according to surveys conducted earlier this year by research firm Zogby International for the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI). Nearly three-fourths of bullying is from the top down, according to a 2007 study.

Some tyrannical managers scream and send out scathing e-mails. But often, an oppressor uses a more subtle — and easily covered — collection of behaviors. These actions could include purposely leaving a worker out of communications so they can’t do their job well, mocking someone during meetings and spreading malicious gossip about their target, says Catherine Mattice, a workplace consultant who specializes in this issue.

The acts may seem trivial, but as they build up over time, the ramifications can be monumental.

Bullied workers often feel anxious and depressed, can’t sleep and are at increased risk for ailments such as hypertension. Some employees feel so overwhelmed, they just can’t see a way out. “Sometimes, unfortunately, suicide is the result,” Mattice says.

Do people just accept bullying more from a boss? Do they fear retaliation to the point of being fired? Why are people more willing to put up with it?

Many folks got an iPad over the holidays. Everyone acts like they LOVE their iPad, but do they really? Is it a big toy? Is it a large iPhone that just doesn’t talk? (you can set it to become a phone) Or is the iPad a netbook? What is an iPad? Do you need one if you have an iPhone?

How is that word processor you can buy to go with it? How about the wireless keyboards and stands? What is a good one to get? What makes an iPad better than a netbook?

2. Shep and Chris Wallace responded to Jon Stewart of Friday. There was no 3 days of 9/11 first responders special by Shep. That was simply a lie.

3. Shep flipped Fox, to his credit.

The Tres Amigos, Fox and Friends, were really on Jon Stewart’s pork chops though. The Gretch had the nerve to say people already thought Jon Stewart was real news. Hmmmm…and what about HER show? Real news or satire?

We paid our dues last year. Anti-Snowmageddon here. Our layer of protection worked. The nor’easter went right around us.

It’s official. No post Christmas snow storm. Georgia, North Carolina, the Eastern Shore, all points north…but no snow storm for Manassas or the nation’s capital. So we dodged the snow bullet!

Are we living right or were we cheated? Who is happy and who is sad? In many respects we are still snowbound since transportation throughout the North East has been disrupted by the storm. When Newark closes, thus goes the rest of the county. Planes are grounded and trains have been halted.

How is the non-snow storm affecting you? Watch those ferocious winds today.

An Iraqi man killed his 19-year-old daughter after he discovered al-Qaida had recruited her as a suicide bomber in an area north of Baghdad, a police spokesman said on Friday.

Al-Qaida has been recruiting women for suicide attacks because they can pass police checkpoints easier than men by concealing explosives under an abaya, a loose, black cloak that conservative Muslim women wear. Suicide bombers have been al-Qaida’s most lethal weapon in Iraq, killing hundreds of civilians and members of Iraq’s security forces.

The killing of the young woman was discovered when security forces, searching for her on suspicion she had ties to al-Qaida, raided her father’s home Thursday outside the former Sunni-insurgent stronghold of Baqouba, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, said Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi, a police spokesman in Diyala province.

The father, Najim al-Anbaky, was detained in the raid. During questioning he told police he had killed his daughter, Shahlaa, a month earlier because he found out she intended to blow herself up in a suicide attack for al-Qaida, al-Karkhi told The Associated Press.

Al-Anbaky showed police what he said was the woman’s grave, al-Karkhi said. The father remains in custody and is under investgiation, but no charges have been made yet.

A police official at the interior ministry in Baghdad confirmed the killing. He spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

A female suicide bomber was behind one of the deadliest attack this year in Iraq, after she blew herself up among Shiite pilgrims Baghdad in February, killing 54 people.

So….is this murder? Is this like killing Hitler rather than waiting to send him to trial? Is the father wrong and should he be prosecuted? Could he have saved hundreds, maybe thousands of lives? While we often hear rhetoric demanding that Muslims denounce terrorists, we need to think about several of the parents who have come forward and warned about their children being agents of terrorists. (underpants bomber for example).

I find it odd that they continue to allow any displays at all. On the other hand, is a Christmas tree a religious symbol? I have always thought of Christmas trees as a symbol of the season. Its origins were pagan and at least in America, Christmas is a national holiday. The tree is its symbol. Christians do more and have their own special relics and artifacts of the season. And that’s a good thing. But for right now, I like the tree being neutral, like wreaths and candy canes. Anyone who objects to Christmas trees, wreaths and candy canes is just a grinch and trying to make an issue.